7 taken to hospitals after 3-vehicle crash

Seven people, including five juveniles, were taken to hospitals following a three-vehicle crash Friday afternoon that blocked a section of a popular roadway for hours.

By Austin L. MillerStaff writer

OCALA — Seven people, including five juveniles, were taken to hospitals following a three-vehicle crash Friday afternoon that blocked a section of a popular roadway for hours as law enforcement officials investigated the accident, firefighters cleaned up loose debris and tow truck operators removed mangled vehicles.Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Alain Fernandez said witnesses told him that a 2011 white Dodge Caravan, driven by Jaron Lee Ang, 27, of Gainesville, was stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Southeast Maricamp Road and 31st Street in the right lane.Meantime, a 2011 white Nissan Sentra with five occupants being driven by 39-year-old Yolanda Aldana of Silver Springs Shores pulled up behind the van and stopped.Witnesses said that a 2012 black BMW that did not brake then slammed into the Nissan so hard that the collision stood the Nissan upright on its front bumper. The car then slid forward and collided into the back of the Dodge, launching it forward.The Nissan occupants, all from Silver Springs Shores, included Aldana and her children, Alejandro Aldana, 8, Anthony Martinez, 8, Kevin Martinez, 12, and Kenneth Hereha, 23 months old. Four of the five were wearing seat belts at the time of the collision, while the 23-month-old was in a car seat. All five were all taken to hospitals.Yolanda Aldana was taken to Ocala Regional Medical Center, while three of the juveniles, Alejandro, Anthony and Kevin, were transported to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville. They were listed in stable condition, officials said.Kenneth was first taken to ORMC, but later was taken to Shands in critical but stable condition, authorities said.Marion County sheriff's deputy Stephen Juliano was the first law enforcement official on scene and was told by a woman at the scene that Kenneth, who was buckled correctly into his car safety seat, was not breathing. Juliano said the car seat was pushed to the front and lodged behind the driver's seat.Juliano said he could not remove the child from his seat because of the tight confinement. Roughly three minutes later, Juliano said Ocala Fire Rescue firefighters arrived. The deputy and a firefighter were able to reach in and unbuckled Kenneth from his seat. However, they were at first unable to take him out of the car.A female firefighter, who was able to get into the car, took Kenneth out and rushed him to an awaiting ambulance.The driver of the BMW that rear-ended the Nissan, Nathan Thomas Pyles, 42, and passenger, stepdaughter Aubrey Heffler, 8, were taken to Munroe Regional Medical Center. Both were in stable condition, officials said.Troopers said Ang refused treatment at the scene, but said his legs hurt and that he would go to a hospital on his own.In an interview with the Star-Banner on scene, Ang said he was stopped at the stop light and noticed the Nissan stopped behind him."The next thing I knew I was rolling forward," he said.Fernandez said he interviewed Pyles and Pyles told him that he doesn't remember what happened or doesn't remember how fast he was going. The speed limit at the crash site is 55 mph. Pyles was not wearing a seat belt, troopers said, while his stepdaughter was buckled in.Officers from the Ocala Police Department, along with sheriff's deputies, rerouted traffic heading east on Maricamp Road at Southeast 36th Avenue onto nearby side roads.It's not the first time an accident has occurred at the location, which within the last several weeks has had a traffic light installed at the intersection.In late October, Michael Phillip Dangelo, 35, of Silver Springs Shores, was killed when the Jeep Grand Cherokee he was driving slammed into the back of a flatbed truck being used in a road-striping project. The stationary truck had a large arrow on it pointing to the next lane.Two workers assigned to the truck were not injured. They were in front of it, striping the roadway, troopers said.

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